Article Blog: Experiment proves that foxes can be tamed the same way as dogs

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9a/Sleepy_fox_01.jpg

Summary

Foxes are usually considered wild animals, whether tame or not. However, a Russian biologist named Dimitri Belyaev was interested in how dogs became domesticated. He wanted to simulate the early days of domestication in dogs. In order to simulate and see what the domestication process looked like, he used foxes due to their similarities with dogs.  He and his team picked the tamest wild foxes they could find, spent time around and bred them. They recorded and analyzed data and slowly the foxes began to change. Nowadays, there is a large population of domesticated foxes. The tamest foxes are called the elite. Over time, as the elite had children and the children had children the number of elite foxes being born began to increase. The foxes also showed physical traits that weren't found in wild foxes. They developed spots, curly tails, and floppy ears. When the Soviet Union (where the experiment took place) fell, the scientists had to stop their research due to a lack of money to fund it. Now, the facility sells the domesticated foxes. 

Citation

"Experiment Proves That Foxes Can Be Tamed the Same Way as Dogs." Newsela | Experiment Proves That Foxes Can Be Tamed the Same Way as Dogs. Newsela, 5 Apr. 2017. Web. 09 Apr. 2017. <https://newsela.com/articles/domesticated-foxes/id/28741/>.

S&EP: SP4: Analyzing and interpreting data

The author analyzed data on the domestic fox experiment to write about and communicate information on what the experiment was. In order to put together an article, the author/s had to do lots of research and reading on the experiment and the scientists. Once the data was gathered they would have to go over and summarize it to create a short and informational article on the topic.